Losing Count | The Sordid Business of Bookkeeping

Noah Kulwin

There is plenty of blame to go around for the stunning explosion of Wirecard. Until as recently as this year, the payments processing company was considered a German national treasure, the most exciting European technology firm since Nokia’s mid-2000s heyday. Valued in August 2018 at a peak of more than $28 billion, it looked like Wirecard and its executives were going to skate by on clout alone when a series of...

Drug Money | The Race for a Vaccine

Noah Kulwin

Speaking at a biotechnology conference on June 9 via livestream, Anthony Fauci told the virtually assembled audience that the novel coronavirus pandemic had turned out to be his worst nightmare. Among the few bright spots, America’s best-known immunologist observed, was the pharmaceutical industry’s commitment to developing a vaccine: “The industry is not stupid.” After all, Fauci reasoned, “there’s going to be more than one winner in the vaccine field because...